EQUIPO NIZKOR |
|
31Aug12
UN Security Council urges humanitarian support for Syria
The UN has requested 180 million dollars for humanitarian operations in Syria, with half of this sum already allocated. A statement to this effect was made by Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, during the UN Security Council emergency session on Syria on Friday. According to him, at least 2,5 million Syrians now badly need humanitarian support.
The diplomat urged countries to pump more money into programs pertaining to Syria. He said that Syrians do not need arms, supplied by those who want to further destabilize this Middle Eastern country. He said that he deems it necessary to deploy more UN humanitarian bodies and non-governmental organizations in Syria. Their security should be ensured by both parties to the conflict, according to Eliasson.
For his part, Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said that a spate of economic sanctions, slapped on Syria by a number of countries without being endorsed by the UN, makes lives of ordinary Syrians more complicated. He added that the economic blockade makes it impossible for Syrians to meet their basic needs and duly use their basic human rights.
The Friday session focused on the creation in Syria of "buffer zones" or "corridors". Earlier, the idea was floated down by Turkey which stressed the necessity of protecting at least one million Syrians who have been displaced as a result of the war.
For his part, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres referred to the international community's experience which he said showed that the idea failed to prove its feasibility, a statement that was echoed by Vitaly Churkin. Moscow-based political analyst Pavel Svyatenkov described a proposal on creating buffer zones as a new attempt to interfere in Syria's internal affairs.
"This is an attempt to create safe havens for Syrian militants who will be under protection of NATO aircraft, Svyatenkov says, not ruling out these militants' possible attacks on the Syrian army in the future. Needless to say, such an approach to creating security zones is unacceptable for this will become an attempt to oust Assad and extend most favored nation treatment to militants. Such a strategy is also unacceptable because it will weaken the legitimate Syrian government and consolidate the opposition, Svyatenkov concludes."
Meanwhile, more than 200 British special forces have been sent to Syria, according to the UK's The Daily Star. The troops are tasked with destroying possible arsenals of chemical and biological weapons there, the newspaper reported. Experts recall that this month also saw the deployment of US and French special forces in Syria.
Analysts draw parallels between the latest developments in Syria and last year's events in Libya, where the West was involved in a military operation to topple Muammar Gaddafi. The deployment of foreign special forces to Syria came right after the withdrawal of a UN observer mission from the country, something that was initiated by the Unites States, France and Britain. Russia was up in arms against the pullout that Moscow warned might be fraught with an outside interference in Syria's domestic affairs. It seems, analysts say, that the forecast currently comes true.
Friday sees the expiration of a mandate of UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, whose successor Lakhdar Brahimi is yet to announce an exact plan of his trip to Syria, scheduled for later next month. Earlier this week, Brahimi held talks with representatives of those countries which are interested in the resolution of the Syrian crisis. During the talks, Brahimi specifically urged the diplomats to lend support to his mission.
[Source: By Konstantin Garibov, The Voice of Russia, Moscow, 31Aug12]
 | This document has been published on 03Sep12 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |